The invention relates to a system, apparatus, and method for monitoring data output from a wireless sensor at predefined time intervals on an existing network without the reporting delays that can come from communicating via a mesh network.
Typically, a wireless network may include a wireless gateway and numerous nodes, such as repeater instruments, connected to the wireless gateway. The wireless network may also include various network components, such as computing devices and wireless sensors, connected to each of the nodes.
A mesh network is a network topology in which each node can relay data for each other in the network. For example, if a network component loses direct contact with the wireless gateway, the network component may send the data to a first node of the mesh network, which can relay the data to a second node that can directly reach the wireless gateway. In that regard, the first node “passes along” or “hands off” the data to the second node of mesh network, which could then send the data to the wireless gateway.
Different techniques to relay or pass along data from one node to another node may be employed on mesh networks, such as “flooding” or “routing” techniques. With routing, data may be propagated along a particular network path by hopping from node to node until the data reaches its destination. Whereas, flooding refers to the controlled or uncontrolled sending of incoming data through every downstream link or connection, thus ensuring that the data reaches its destination.
However, the above-described routing and flooding techniques, as well as the overall functionality of a mesh topology, render it extremely difficult to monitor and/or obtain data output from a wireless sensor at short time intervals when direct connection between the sensor and the wireless gateway is lost. One reason for this difficulty is that it may take a long period of time to establish, relay, propagate, or pass along data between multiple nodes of the mesh network back to the gateway, especially if the mesh network is large and complex.